How Wong Kar-wai’s short The Hand made the 2004 anthology film Eros worth watching
The Hong Kong director’s segment from the three-part erotic anthology Eros outshone those by Steven Soderbergh and Michelangelo Antonioni
This is the latest instalment in a feature series reflecting on instances of East meets West in world cinema, including China-US co-productions.
Anthology films consist of several shorter works, often connected by a common theme or wraparound story. Sometimes they have multiple directors, such as 1989’s New York Stories, which features tales by Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola and Woody Allen.
It is a lopsided proposition. Antonioni, who made 1960s classics such as L’Avventura and Blow-up, was by far the biggest name at the time, with Wong and Soderbergh recruited as fans of his work.
Apparently, Soderbergh just wanted to be on a poster alongside the Italian legend. Wong, meanwhile, called Antonioni “the guiding light for me and filmmakers of my generation, so I’m deeply honoured to participate in this project and show him my gratitude”.